Cat Soup (ねこぢる草) is a surreal OAV based on the work of Nekojiru. The film by Sato Tatsuo was originally released in 2001.
As with Nekojiru Gekijou, the story follows cat sibling Nyako and Nyatta. Nyako die's from a fever but Nyatta, who almost drowns in the bathtub, chases her spirit down and is able to retrieve a portion of it. The spirit enters her corpse, reviving her to a semi brain dead state. Nyatta goes on a journey through various realities in order to revive his sister completely. They travel through realms of beauty and horror, encountering begins both malevolent, benevolent and indifferent to their existence and plight.
The artwork in this short is amazing and very art house in style. The story is all told through the visual content with the only dialog occurring in a handful of word bubbles. It is an existential journey through horror and wonder that has no direction. The siblings continue pushing forward through their strange and sometimes uncomfortable encounters, searching for an end to their dilemma. Teeming with allegories and symbolism this isn't for everyone but I very much appreciate that it exists. Particularly when compared to the horrible TV series that proceeded it.
This isn't for everyone and enjoying it can mark you as an elitist. But honestly it was a really enjoyable journey. A strange combination of Pinocchio and the tale of Persephone. It was made available in North America in 2003, but is out of print and difficult to come by these days. If you can get your hands on it I highly recommend at least viewing it. There's not much like it and its worth seeing.
As with Nekojiru Gekijou, the story follows cat sibling Nyako and Nyatta. Nyako die's from a fever but Nyatta, who almost drowns in the bathtub, chases her spirit down and is able to retrieve a portion of it. The spirit enters her corpse, reviving her to a semi brain dead state. Nyatta goes on a journey through various realities in order to revive his sister completely. They travel through realms of beauty and horror, encountering begins both malevolent, benevolent and indifferent to their existence and plight.
The artwork in this short is amazing and very art house in style. The story is all told through the visual content with the only dialog occurring in a handful of word bubbles. It is an existential journey through horror and wonder that has no direction. The siblings continue pushing forward through their strange and sometimes uncomfortable encounters, searching for an end to their dilemma. Teeming with allegories and symbolism this isn't for everyone but I very much appreciate that it exists. Particularly when compared to the horrible TV series that proceeded it.
This isn't for everyone and enjoying it can mark you as an elitist. But honestly it was a really enjoyable journey. A strange combination of Pinocchio and the tale of Persephone. It was made available in North America in 2003, but is out of print and difficult to come by these days. If you can get your hands on it I highly recommend at least viewing it. There's not much like it and its worth seeing.
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